To be honest, I don’t know if I’d willingly order mock turtle soup ever again. The version at Ron’s Roost was extremely acidic from lemon juice and/or vinegar and had some new-to-me texture combinations like hard-boiled egg and ground beef. A one-time experience is good enough for me. That said, members of Joel’s family who are from Cincinnati LOVE mock turtle soup from Ron’s Roost, and they seemed to really enjoying a hot cup of the soup on the day that we visited.

How cool is this rooster-mobile parked outside of the restaurant?

I visited: Ron’s Roost, a Cincinnati restaurant known for its fried chicken (Note the rooster-mobile parked outside of the restaurant) and German-influenced local favorites (hot bacon slaw, sauerbraten, and mock turtle soup).

I tried: A cup of the mock turtle soup, a Cincinnati favorite that has roots in English and German cooking. It’s an imitation of the more expensive green turtle soup and incorporates beef (sometimes calf brains and organs) to mimic the texture of turtle meat.

Why it stood out: There are quite a variety of recipes for mock turtle soup. Joel’s grandma told me about a version that incorporate ground gingersnap cookies as a warm, spicy, thickening agent. A recipe I read in Joel’s aunt’s cookbook included some usual soup suspects: celery, carrot, onion, tomatoes, bay leaf; but it also listed a slew of surprising ingredients: whole cloves, browned flour, chopped hard-boiled eggs, and loads of lemon and vinegar. I can’t be sure of all ingredients used in the soup at Ron’s Roost, but it definitely had a slap of acidity with deep, warm flavors from clove and bay leaf. This was a combination of flavors and textures I have never experienced.